English Mysteries Club discussion
Book Chat
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What are you Currently Reading?
Shadow & Bone (mostly cuz the series is coming soon hh)And I have thoughts so if anyone wants to talk..:)
Jacqui, I have enjoyed those books by Rennie Airth. And I found there’s a new one too.
Rereading 'Days Without Number' by Robert Goddard
Sue wrote: "Jacqui, I have enjoyed those books by Rennie Airth. And I found there’s a new one too."Sue - I just looked him and his books up, and I think it might be something that would fit with my reading style. I'll get the first one and see how it goes from there.
Not for a while though have a lot of new books to get through as it is, and the old books, and the classics, and the rereads. Never enough time.
Definitely enjoying The Seagull by Ann Cleeves time just flew by and I realised I was on Chapter 16 and needed to go to bed, just wanted to carry on reading though.
Jacqui, have you read any of Susan Hill’s Simon Serailler series? I’ve read them all and am hoping for more. Police procedural in a small town, centered on one inspector and much of his extended family. Highly recommended.
Have the first one on my TBR I have read some of the author's other works. Pretty sure she wrote a follow up to Rebecca so I like her style.- Update -
Mrs de Winter and I have the first 2 in the Simon Serailler series, looks like those are getting bumped up towards the top now. Thanks Sue.
Sue, thank you so much for the tip about the new Rennie Airth. He has long been one of my favorites.
I have the third in Rennie Airth's John Madden series but I usually don't read two of a series close together. Right now I'm in the midst of Mary Roberts Rinehart's The Window at the White Cat.
Too many good books! I couldn't decide which book to start last night so ended up grabbing something that I recently got from my cousin and I'm intrigued by the title: The Armada Boy by Kate Ellis.
Sue wrote: "Jacqui, have you read any of Susan Hill’s Simon Serailler series? I’ve read them all and am hoping for more. Police procedural in a small town, centered on one inspector and much of his extended fa..."I like them too!
Haven’t read Kate Ellis in a long time but I see that the library has quite a few. I’m not reading a mystery at the moment but I hope to be very soon. Too many books to read.
Dorothy, aren’t they great. I’m waiting for Hill to write another.
Sue wrote: "Haven’t read Kate Ellis in a long time but I see that the library has quite a few. I’m not reading a mystery at the moment but I hope to be very soon. Too many books to read."That's so true — and I have a heck of a lot of them right now! I'm too tempted to just sit and read these days ...
I've just ordered a Kate Ellis book from the library. 'Seeking the Dead"
I've started listening to Coroner's Pidgin by Margery Allingham, which qualifies for a challenge category.
The Kate Ellis Wesley Peterson books are terrific. Love the connection to the past that is part and parcel of the series.I've just started up a new to me series, and am now on book #2, The Summoner's Sins by Keith Moray. Billed as a "medieval thriller." Not sure that I agree with that. Although I'm about one third of the way in and already three bodies have turned up, it's still a little plodding. Will stick with it, though.
Next is a police procedural for me Sleepyhead by Mark Billingham. First in the DI Tom Thorne Series, also reading an american cosy/hard boiled Undertaking Irene and a fantasy A War of Wizards: Book Five of the Blackwood Saga to finish off a series that I've been waiting on for quite some time.
Jacqui wrote: "Next is a police procedural for me Sleepyhead by Mark Billingham. First in the DI Tom Thorne Series, also reading an american cosy/hard boiled Undertaking Irene and a ..."I've just started on Ian Rankin's "Mortal Causes". It is not really an English cosy mystery....more of a "Scottish Noir" !
Dorothy wrote: "Jacqui wrote: "Next is a police procedural for me Sleepyhead by Mark Billingham. First in the DI Tom Thorne Series, also reading an american cosy/hard boiled [book:Undertaking Irene|3..."I could never get on with Inspector Rebus, maybe I should try again. I know I've got a couple just sitting on my book shelves.
Did you ever see the TV series? I thought the actor playing Rebus was just as I imagined him.
I liked that series too though I haven’t read the books.
Dorothy wrote: "Did you ever see the TV series? I thought the actor playing Rebus was just as I imagined him."I've watched a few - Ken Stott's portrayal is very good but my heart belongs to John Hannah who originally played Rebus. I can watch them I just couldn't read them. Although that was 15 or more years ago eep!
I don't think I ever saw John Hannah in the role.
Thanks. I couldn’t think of his name. I like him in anything I’ve seen him in though I can’t remember the titles.
I'm currently reading the Eighth Detective by Alex Pavesi. Have not read this author before, so interested to see how it turns out.
Sharon wrote: "I'm currently reading the Eighth Detective by Alex Pavesi. Have not read this author before, so interested to see how it turns out."Not an author I'm familiar with either. I'll look forward to seeing what you think.
I just finished The Best Thing You Can Steal by Simon R. Green, just published yesterday. It’s a crime caper set in a sort of alternative London where humans coexist with the magical and paranormal. I do enjoy this type of writing and I really liked this book. Not part of a series, unless the author intends to begin one with it! I have written a review.
Just finished The Wolves of Savernake by Edward Marston a new to me series though an author I've read before. Very prolific writer. I enjoyed it a lot so I'll be continuing on with the Domesday Mysteries.Just about to start The Royal Ghost by Linda Stratmann Victorian mystery with a bit of the supernatural (or is it?) thrown in. I read the first story about Mina Scarletti and was pleasantly surprised so I'll see how I feel after this one.
Am slowly getting into Britt-Marie Was Here by Fredrik Backman. I usually like his books but its taking me a bit of time to warm up to Britt-Marie, a lonely woman who lived for her husband until he suffered a heart attack and she could not ignore that he had fallen in love with another woman.
Britt-Marie ended up being one of my favorite of Backman’s books, so far, though I think I’m a bit of an outlier on that one. I also loved his most recent book, Anxious People. Funny enough, my least favorite was A Man Called Ove but that may be because I read it after several other Backmab books and had heard way too much about how excellent it was. Probably nothing could live up to that hype.
I am currently reading : An Extravagant Death " by Charles Finch
Just read A Fatal Obsession by Faith Martin 1st in the series Ryder and Loveday. I really enjoyed it and I'll be reading others in the series. Set in Oxford in 50s and 60s, a young WPC and the Coroner team up to investigate a case that appeared in the Coroner's Court and the a verdict of Death by Misadventure had been entered - before Ryder was the Coroner.
The characters were great, the plot was suitably twisty. I worked out whodunit but couldn't figure out the how so all to the good.
Now reading The Custard Corpses by M.J. Porter and it's gearing up to be another good read.
I am currently reading Slow Horses by Mick Herron. It is the first time I read this author. I like very much the plot and the way he writes. In certain ways it reminds me John Le Carre´s books. I am sure that I will continue reading the whole series.
I am re-reading all of Jane Austen. Just finished Persuasion and Northanger Abbey. Have just started Mansfield Park.Zain
Zain wrote: "I am re-reading all of Jane Austen."❤️
Zain wrote: "I am re-reading all of Jane Austen. Just finished Persuasion and Northanger Abbey. Have just started Mansfield Park.Zain"
Allie wrote: "Zain wrote: "I am re-reading all of Jane Austen."
I have started the Great Courses Plus lecture series on Jane Austen which talks about all her books. Gives me new perspectives
❤️"
carolina wrote: "I am currently reading Slow Horses by Mick Herron. It is the first time I read this author. I like very much the plot and the way he writes. In certain ways it remin..."
carolina wrote: "I am currently reading Slow Horses by Mick Herron. It is the first time I read this author. I like very much the plot and the way he writes. In certain ways it remin..."Thanks for this review, carolina. I just took Slow Horses out of the e-library. I love & miss LeCarre --
who, by the way, is mentioned in Original Theatre's online production of "A Splinter of Ice," a play about novelist Graham Green visiting his old boss, British master spy Kim Philby, near the end of Philby's exile in the USSR.
C.J. wrote: "carolina wrote: "I am currently reading Slow Horses by Mick Herron. It is the first time I read this author. I like very much the plot and the way he writes. In cert..."It sounds very interesting! I would love to see that play! (or read it) Thanks C.J. for the info! I also love Le Carre´s books, his characters, his atmospheres, his intrigues.
carolina wrote: "C.J. wrote: "carolina wrote: "I am currently reading Slow Horses by Mick Herron. It is the first time I read this author. I like very much the plot and the way he wr..."Here's the link to Original Theatre's play about the meeting between Graham Greene & Kim Philby, running online now till July: https://originaltheatreonline.com/pro...
It's more informative than dramatic -- inevitable for anything staged during the pandemic, I guess.
Just about to start The Man in the Brown Suit by Agatha Christie. I think I've only read this once before as opposed to the 5 or 6 times I've read most of the others.
I finished The Man in the Brown Suit I thought it was more of an adventure story than a mystery in all honesty. Doesn't mean I didn't enjoy it although I don't think it's one of her best. I reread a Cadfael One Corpse Too Many No 2 in the series and the one where we first meet Hugh Beringar which was good to revisit and still as captivating as it ever was when I read it 20 odd years ago.
Sue wrote: "Britt-Marie ended up being one of my favorite of Backman’s books, so far, though I think I’m a bit of an outlier on that one. I also loved his most recent book, Anxious People. Funny enough, my lea..."I have to agree, Sue (sorry for my delay), that by the time I had finished Britt-Marie, I really liked it.
I started reading Backman's books with The Man Called Ove and liked it, but I also didn't read much of the hype about it and just had to get over the fact that he seemed such an unusual — i.e., kind of unlikeable character — and then I really did like him and could understand where he was coming from ... just like with Britt-Marie. I guess I'm a little harder on female characters and want to understand where they are coming from right at the beginning.
Hi Pamela. I think I used to be harder on female characters but more recently have become more even handed in how I view or deal with them. Britt-Marie from all I remember, just had so much spunk and understanding. At this point, I would give anything Backman writes a try.
Just started Fallen into the Pit by Ellis Peters - Mystery series set just after WWII with the main characters George Felse, a police sergeant, and his family. I always meant to read this series after I finished all the Cadfael books but have only just got around to reading the first one. Hopefully it'll be another series for me to enjoy.
Jacqui wrote: "Just started Fallen into the Pit by Ellis Peters - Mystery series set just after WWII with the main characters George Felse, a police sergeant, and his family. I alway..."Oh, I’ve meant to read this one, too - looking forward to seeing what you think!
English Mysteries Club
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Pamela, Renie Airth is a new author to me so I'll have to take a closer look.
I've found both the Shetland series and Vera to be exceptionally good reads up to yet.